


Sanctity of Life

by artificiallifecreator



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Aftermath of trauma, Cats, Families of Choice, Found Families, Gen, Onibaba
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 18:11:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3660138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artificiallifecreator/pseuds/artificiallifecreator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(or, “Tamsin, get your ass back on this bed or so help me—!")</p><p>(or even, “Tamsin, you just had a seizure, please stop propositioning the nurse.”)</p><p>(Originally posted <a href="http://shmoo92.tumblr.com/post/115088450463/quigonejinn-estee-you-delight-in-hurting-me">here</a>, more easily reblogged <a href="http://shmoo92.tumblr.com/post/115218369453/sanctity-of-life">here</a>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sanctity of Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quigonejinn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quigonejinn/gifts), [Confabulatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Confabulatrix/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Chats with Estee (tags)](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/106929) by Quigonejinn. 



The first—

The fi—

ThefirstfourfourfourfourteenhoursafterOnibaba—

Can’t hear Lord Sun over the helicopter. 

He draws Mako closer against his side. 

And then they’re landing in Hong Kong—

 _‘cause everything PPDC is in Hong Kong_ except Mom and Dad but they’re not PPDC and Mako ... is ... 

now .... 

They land and the inside of the plane is the inside of a hospital room and Lady Red is pushing herself up to sitting and Lord Sun—

Mako grips him with everything’s she got.  

“Would you like to sit with Tamsin?” he asks slowly. 

Mako nods. 

He links his arm with hers; they cross the narrow room and with a little negotiating—

(A tiny bit of Mako says she’s unreasonable; he won’t disappear if she lets go for a sec—

because her shoe fell off—)

 —they clamber up beside Lady Red Tamsin. 

“So,” she croaks. “That sucked.”

A nurse with flower scrubs she’s Japanese!!! enters, bows.「My name is Miyahira Setsuko; you can call me 'Miya' or 'Mira' or whatever you like. I'm a nurse here. I'm pleased to be your attendant during your stay,」 she greets in an Okinawa accent. 

Mako ...

Nurse Miyahira smiles kindly.  「You are Mori Mako?」

Mako swallows, nods.

「Would you like something to eat? Or maybe a shower?」 

Mako’s arms hurt. 

Lord Sun reaches around awkwardly, rubs her opposite shoulder because she’s clutching his arm so tightly. 

She makes herself relax her hold, just a bit. 

“Rangers, Medical’s shower room is at your disposal, if I could escort you?”

"Can I get a sponge bath?” asks Lady Red Tamsin. 

“Didn’t think you were one for showing off,” grins Nurse Miyahira.

Lady Red Tamsin repli—pauses, says, “Good point.”  

Lord Sun just sighs. 

“Ranger Pentecost?”  

Lord Sun Pentecost considers, declines. 

“Anything from your quarters?” 

Lady Red Tamsin says, “You know my hoodie—the grey one, from Uni?” 

“You got it back from Custodial?” 

Tamsin barks a laugh. “Finally, yea. Would not / **believe** the dust bunnies.”

Nurse Miyahira giggles. “Want me to decontaminate it?” 

Lady Red Tamsin bats her eyelashes. “Pretty please?”

“You got it. Ranger Pentecost?” 

“Couple books, clothes.” Lord Sun Pentecost shrugs. 

“I’ll see what I can do.” Smiles at Mako. 「I’ll bring you some scrubs, k?」

Mako bows as best as she can. 

Nurse Miyahira bows back. 「Can I get you anything—」

Someone dimmed the lights; Lady Red Tamsin’s slumped on Lord Sun Pentecost, his head's on hers, they’re leaning against the wall. 

Fresh bandages cover Mako’s foot, as do daisy stickers, and someone’s pulled an extra-large, sad, grey hoodie over her coat and her neck and shoulders hurt but she’s tucked up under his arm and her face is wet and—

A man dressed in orange with a very odd figure slips through the open door and waves quickly. 

Mako presses herself behind Lord Sun Pentecost. 

“Miss Mori?” Orange whispers. “I heard what happened.” He creeps into view. 

His robes are moving and—

Nyan-ing?  

“I’m Feng.” He bows awkwardly. 

“You know me.” 

He pauses, concedes. “Yes.” Offers his shawl. “I brought you something.” He considers. “Somethings.” 

“What?”

Feng steps forward, dumps his shawl, one cat, and six kittens in her lap and then, from somewhere, a somewhat-deep tray, two somewhat-large bowls, a bag of kitty litter, cat food, and a water bottle which become a very nice set up under the bed. He stands—whacks his head on the underside of the bed, shuffles out, stands again. “They’re yours, if you want.” 

The kittens lick Mako’s cheeks. 

“I must be off, though I will need my shawl back.” He steps forward, croaks, goes down and knocks over the water from the sounds of it, and flails. 

Nurse Miyahira pokes her head in, hisses, “Cadet Lin, you’re supposed to be on the helipad!” 

“Going!” he rasps. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Cats—” He whacks his head again. 

“This is why your brother wanted the human-sized hamster ball.” 

Cadet Lin Feng stands, brushes himself off. “Not for this exact situation, but yes. Would you refill their water when you get a chance?” 

“Sure.” 

“Miss Mori?” 

Mako cradles as many kittens and Lord Sun's—

_but my shoe broke_

—as she can. 

Cadet Lin Feng whips his shawl from her lap and of course a kitten’s still got a claw in and it goes tumbling and hangs upside down, surrounded by orange yarn. 

Lady Red Tamsin sighs against Lord Sun Pentecost's neck. 

Cadet Lin Feng eases it free, rolls it on to its littermates.  "Oh well,” he grins. “Good thing I have a fifteen-hour plane ride!” 

Mako cradles the kittens. 

Cadet Lin Feng balls up his shawl, bows (much less awkwardly), heads for the door, hesitates, hops back to Mako, engulfs her and the kittens (but not the cat, who knows better) in a billowy hug and one of the kittens gets caught in his shawl and they go through the whole thing over again and he pecks her forehead, skips away, trips into the nurse, and he’s gone. 

Mako’s face hurts. 

The kittens nyan. 

The cat crawls out from behind Lord Sun Pentecost, makes herself comfortable in Mako’s lap. 

Lady Red Tamsin slides off Lord Sun Pentecost’s shoulder, wakes herself up. 

Mako—

Mako steels herself.

Lady Red Tamsin yawns.

“Good evening.” 

Lady Red Tamsin beams. “You talk!” Throws herself across Lord Sun Pentecost—

He grunts. 

—hugs Mako tightly. “You talk, you talk, you talk!”

The kittens nyan indignantly. 

Tamsin retreats. "Sorry."

Mako’s face hurts. 

“But cats!” Tamsin scoops— "May I?" 

Mako nods, offers her arms and Lord Sun Pentecost’s. 

Tamsin coos, cups a red and white splotchy kitten in her hands. “They’re so cute!” She grins at Mako. “Not as cute as you, obviously, but there’s just something about kittens.” 

The kittens lick Mako’s cheeks. 

“Oi, Stacks!” Tamsin elbows Lord Sun Pentecost. “Cats!” She beams at Mako. “Can we name one?” 

Mako nods. 

The red and white splotchy kitten nyans. 

“Ruby Glittershine, the First,” proclaims Tamsin. 

Lord Sun Pentecost groans. 

“Oh, stuff it, you old fart. You’re just going to name yours—Can we each name one?”

Mako nods. 

The kittens nuzzle her cheeks. 

“Ha! You can name one! And you’ll name it ‘Bookshelf’, like how you always name things.” 

“I like it,” offers Mako. 

“You cut his name in half—’Stacks’—it’s British for ‘bookshelf’ you narcissistic pile of sh—poop.”

Lord Sun Pentecost glowers, picks a dark kitten. 

It coos, rolls around in his hands. 

“Aww, she likes you!” ribs Tamsin. 

Lord Sun Pentecost smiles in a pleased, weary kind of way, rubs the kitten’s ears, says finally, "The Stacking.” 

"That is a terrible name.” 

"Like ‘Ruby Glittershine, the First’ isn’t.”

“That’s a grand name! A name for a queen! A name for a queen of cats!” Tamsin studies her kitten. “Though you’ll be fixed, so you actually won’t be a queen in that sense but in the sense of royalty so there.” Sticks out her tongue. 

Ruby Glittershine, the First, yawns. 

Mako’s stomach roars. 

Kittens squeak. 

“And with that,” Tamsin eases off the bed. “I’ll flag down some food—”

“Tams—”

Tamsin eases onto the bed. “Fine. I’ll use the button.” Kitten on shoulder, button in hand. “Always wanted to use one of these things.” 

 

**Author's Note:**

> And so, Pacific Rim's first found family finds itself. 
> 
> Why did I just set myself up to name five more cats. 
> 
> There may be more. Not sure yet. 
> 
> Typos kindly pointed out by pickle-plum who is awesome and is also the creator of Cadet (eventual Ranger) Lin Feng, Shaolin novice, collector of rescued cats because he takes an active approach to ‘all life is sacred’ and he’s a klutz so he’s not allowed in the hangar to help with maintenance so when there isn’t a Kaiju in the water he’s bored. He’s probably in Hong Kong from the Academy for some sort of Jaeger-development meeting.)


End file.
